Created by Vivienne Medrano, Hazbin Hotel follows Charlie Morningstar (Erika Henningsen), the princess of Hell, as she sets about fulfilling her seemingly impossible dream of opening a hotel called “Hazbin Hotel,” which aims to rehabilitate sinners. Due to overpopulation, Hell goes through an annual purge where angels, led by Adam (Alex Brightman), descend from Heaven and kill demons. Charlie finds this upsetting and wants to find a more peaceful solution to the overpopulation problem. Her goal is to have her clients “check out” from Hell as redeemed souls and be accepted into Heaven. With the help of her devoted manager and girlfriend, Vaggie (Stephanie Beatriz), and their reluctant first patron, pornographic film actor Angel Dust (Blake Roman), she is determined to make her dream become a reality. But when her proposal on live television goes awry, her plan attracts the attention of the powerful “Radio Demon” Alastor (Amir Talai), who despite finding her belief in redemption laughable, wants to help Charlie run the hotel for his own supposed amusement.
This series started as a pilot that was uploaded on Vivienne Medrano’s YouTube channel four years ago and after such amazing reception, the show was eventually picked up by A24 leading to this first season that is now out today on Prime Video. I did not know what to expect with this series at first but when I saw the highly praised pilot I was immediately hooked on it and eager to watch what was to come with A24’s backing. After streaming all eight episodes of the first season I can tell you without a doubt that I love the fuck out of this show. It is a phenomenally crafted series that truly goes to unhinged levels of insanity, humor, heart, and layered storytelling, all taking place within a beautifully animated and demented setting.
We live in a time where there are many raunchy adult animated comedy shows on many channels and platforms that usually feel like cheap copies of each other, but this one manages to soar hugely above them all due to its many unique elements and the clear amount of passion given to it under the direction of Vivienne Medrano. There is a lot to discuss about this first season, starting with the animation. The original pilot had some truly stunning animation and visuals to begin with but with A24’s involvement everything got a major upgrade to craft the demented and outlandish world of Hazbin Hotel.
Every character design in this show is unique, giving them memorable appearances that look very imaginative and never feel like a direct copy of anything else in existence. The animation certainly has the inspired fluidity and charm of old Warner Bros cartoons but with a very demonic spin that all looks gorgeous to look at and truly pops off the screen, with amazing colors that are fitting for the hellish setting. It also makes the over-the-top violence and gore of the show stand out on its own, looking visually stunning in comparison to other animated shows I’ve seen in recent years done in a similar style. Plus the amount of details you can pick out from every frame shows that so much passion was put into animating this series and that none of it was cheaply made flash animation. What you see on screen is art that should be praised.
This show features an awesome cast of truly lovable misfits and demented evil dickheads that are all given fantastic performances by the respectively chosen voice actors who bring these characters to life in unique ways and are all written with brilliant arcs. Charlie Morningstar, voiced wonderfully by Erika Henningsen, is an absolutely adorable and compelling lead character full of charm and emotion that you instantly fall in love with. And despite being the daughter of Lucifer and princess of Hell she is an extremely pure individual who believes in the redemption of the soul and is always willing to put other needs before her own no matter what it costs her. Her hopes to help get demons to Heaven may be naive but her determination to do it is unwavering despite all the challenges she faces thankfully doesn’t have to face them alone. The way she is voiced and written makes her a character you will always root for to accomplish her goals throughout the series.
Standing alongside her is her very girlfriend Vaggie voiced by the incredibly underrated Stephanie Beatriz. Beatriz nails the character’s ruthless aggression as well as her soft side making for a flawed yet still perfect partner for Charlie to have sharing such excellent chemistry throughout the series. She can also be quite the badass when she needs to be and interestingly that aspect of her does get revealed in a surprising twist that makes her character even more unique amongst the group. Together these two try to make the hotel a success as they deal with both patrons and employees in their care that all have their own personal demons (figuratively and literally).
First there is the foul-mouthed Angel Dust, a gay pornstar and first patron of the hotel voiced incredibly well by Blake Roman. Upon initial introduction, this character appears to be the sex and drug addicted comedic relief you see in every raunchy comedy but when you get to see the truth behind his character he ends up being one of the most tragic and emotionally compelling characters of the season as a whole. I didn’t think I was going to feel that emotionally connected to this character as I was but as his story was explored further in the series I found it to be truly heartbreaking as well as extremely bold given that it tackles some tough subjects from addiction to abuse and even sexual assault. These subjects are difficult to tackle and get very wrong with the kind of character that Angel is yet thanks to excellent writing and an incredible voice performance by Blake Roman the subjects are handled with great care and hit hard emotionally for everyone watching.
Then there is the bartender Husk, voiced by the magnificent Keith David, who turned out to be a compelling character despite his hilariously vulgar nature. Much like Angel Dust, he is an individual who also struggles with his addiction which has cost him everything and forced him into making regrettable decisions that he is forced to deal with every day resulting in his constant consumption of alcohol and mean-as-hell attitude. But at the same time, he proves to be a rather wise member of the group who does have a heart underneath the vulgar persona that allows him to end up connecting with the group at the hotel including Angel. I have always considered Keith David to be a phenomenal voice actor and he continues to be so with his performance as Husk making for a very enjoyable character.
Other enjoyable characters include the extremely gremlin housekeeper Niffty, voiced by Kimiko Glenn, and the awkwardly hilarious Sir Pentious, voiced by Alex Brightman, who were both comedic gems in this series delivering great laughs along with the rest of the cast respectively. Sir Pentious, who started as a basic cliche villain, becomes a surprisingly fun addition to the group that ends up having an actual arc of his own that is both funny and touching.
But my favorite of the Hazbin Hotel group is also the most mysterious and terrifying character of the show, the “Radio Demon” Alastor, voiced phenomenally by Amir Talai. This fearsomely designed demon with an old-timey radio-sounding voice is an absolute force in the realm of Hell having an unsettling presence, a creepy-as-hell design, and an unpredictable nature that makes him such an intriguing and awesome character. There are many evil demons in hell featured in this series but Alastor is established quickly as one of the most dangerous and infamous of them all with an extremely sadistic personality. His true motives though for wanting to help the hotel work and protect Charlie’s interest remain largely a mystery throughout the first season but it becomes abundantly clear that there is much more to Alastor than we know, which is likely to be explored in the future. He is a truly unique character that I am invested in and am desperate to learn more of.
This show features a strong supporting cast of various names and faces that all play big parts in the main group’s journey whether they be obstacles in their way or allies that help them hugely. Even Lucifer himself, voiced by Jeremy Jordan, appears in the series but he is not at all what you would expect resulting in a great addition to the series. There are also several villains involved in this season with the most major ones being The Vees and the angelic Exorcists of Heaven led by Adam. That’s right, that Adam from the story of Adam and Eve. Interestingly while Hell is a place of sinners, killers, and chaos, Heaven proves itself not to be so Heavenly as it seems to contain some individuals like Adam who would feel more at home with the demons of Hell than the Angels above. This portrayal of Adam has him being an absolute piece of shit and a perfect foil for the main characters to deal with as he attempts to cleanse hell of its demons not believing in any sort of redemption for anyone in Hell. It is a demented twist on the biblical figure that I found to be brilliant and hilarious although I know it is certainly going to get some people talking.
This show’s comedy is absolutely off the rails and while a majority of it can be vulgar and raunchy there is also a lot of smart humor too, making this series avoid the pitfalls of other adult animated shows that rely on dumb humor to be entertaining. But what really sets this show apart from others is the shocking amount of heart and impactful themes that are beautifully balanced with the vulgarity of the show. A lot of various tones are introduced in this series that are all handled phenomenally well and as a result you end up feeling emotionally invested with not only the characters but the story as well as it explores philosophical themes of redemption as well as simple yet layered themes of not judging people at face value.
The writing is so damn clever as well as so damn bold in its direction that I was shocked by just how engaged I became with this series from start to end. It’s clear that a lot of care and passion was put into the narrative of this show to make it unique and touch the hearts of many while also delivering a shit ton of laughs in the process. Not to mention the character arcs are all done extremely well with characters experiencing actual growth and changes in the first season when you’d think most of this stuff would be explored in later seasons. The season also ends with a hugely epic finale that has tons of satisfying moments, badass action, and drops major bombshells that set up big developments for season 2 that I am already so eager to see where things go.
Another awesome element of this show that I found myself enjoying is the fact that it is also a musical. This show features an awesome score and a large number of absolutely banger songs that consistently get better as the season progresses and are perfectly woven into the narrative. Some of these songs also act as an emotional catharsis for certain characters like my favorite song “Loser, Baby”, which is beautifully performed by Keith David and Blake Roman and has some of the strongest themes of the show layered within it.
Overall, the first season of Hazbin Hotel hugely exceeded expectations and is truly one of the most unique animated shows in recent years that deserves major attention. I highly recommend giving this series a go, starting with the pilot on YouTube and then all 8 episodes of Season 1 on Prime Video. Trust me when I say that this show is one hell of a ride you don’t want to miss. I’m going to give Hazbin Hotel an A+ = 99.
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